Northwest firearms forums

Anyone know if the giveaway of firearms is legit on these sites? I see they both use the same entry strategy. I have seen a few videos on YouTube that question the authenticity of these and never being able to actually locate a winner. It does seem like with so many people in the reddit forums that over time somebody on here would have won and posted something.

https://manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-senator-hoylman-and-assemblymember-rosenthal-announce-new-legislation-to-combat-proliferation-of-3d-guns/
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., New York State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, and New York State Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal today announced new legislation (S7364/A7489) to make the manufacture of 3D-printed guns and gun parts illegal. The legislation, which is being unveiled during Gun Violence Awareness month, comes in response to the proliferation of 3D-printed firearms, which can be easily assembled in an apartment or home.
Current New York State law makes it a class D felony to manufacture any machine-gun, assault weapon or large-capacity ammunition feeding device, but excludes unfinished frames or receivers, major components, magazines or firearms silencers. Furthermore, while it is currently illegal to possess a finished 3D-printed gun or a ghost gun, it is not illegal to manufacture such guns. This new legislation would close the manufacturing loopholes by making this conduct a class D felony.
The legislation would also make it a class A misdemeanor to share, sell or distribute files containing blueprints for 3D-printed firearms components.
The ability to manufacture 3D-printed guns at home is a growing concern in New York and nationally. Through numerous investigations and prosecutions, the New York City Police Department and the D.A.’s Office are seizing an increasing number of 3D-printed parts and weapons. Under existing ghost gun and possession laws, the D.A.’s Office has aggressively prosecuted individuals for possessing ghost guns and gun components. This new legislation would enable prosecutors to bring additional charges for manufacturing parts and firearms that are recovered pursuant to search warrants.
“Technology has made it possible for anyone with a few hundred dollars to create dangerous weapons and firearms in the comfort of their own home. The ease at which people can create guns and gun parts poses a direct threat to the safety of our communities, which is why we are taking action to close these loopholes and strengthen the penalties on the books,” said District Attorney Bragg. “At a time when gun control measures are being eroded around the country, New York must remain a leader in enacting the most comprehensive anti-gun legislation possible. I thank Senator Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Rosenthal for their leadership on this issue and their recognition that further strengthening our gun laws will save lives.”
State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal said, “It is not illegal to manufacture a 3D-printed gun or a ghost gun. Perhaps that’s why nearly half of all the untraceable firearms recovered by the NYPD in 2022 were ghost guns—a 75% increase compared to 2021. It also means anyone with $300 can make a 3D firearm in their living room. Today, those days are over. With S7364, New York is continuing our fight against gun violence by making manufacturing 3D-printed guns and ghost guns illegal. I thank D.A. Bragg and Assembly Member Rosenthal for staying on top of our ever-changing technological environment to keep New Yorkers safe.”
“The unfettered manufacture of 3D-printed guns and accessories must come to an end in New York State,” said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF-Manhattan), Chair of the Assembly Committee on Housing, and sponsor of the 2021 Jose Webster Untraceable Firearms Act. “In 2021, my bill banned the possession of ghost guns, which has enabled law enforcement to remove hundreds of illegal firearms from our streets and hold those who violate this law accountable. Now, with this new bill, we will prohibit the manufacture of ghost guns, and stop reckless New Yorkers from producing weapons of war from the comfort of their homes. This legislation will go a long way in creating safer communities across the state and beyond. I look forward to continuing to work with District Attorney Bragg to get this key bill across the finish line.”
“Ghost guns are a real public-safety threat, and with this legislation our criminal justice system will be better equipped to hold the people who manufacture, sell, and possess them accountable,” said NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell. “This important measure will close some dangerous loopholes in the law, as our fight against 3D-printed firearms and all other illegal weapons continues. I commend and thank our law enforcement partners and elected officials for supporting this critical effort to keep the people we serve safe.”
New York’s strong gun laws, including the SAFE Act, have made it illegal for online vendors to sell ghost guns into New York State. As a result, ghost gun builders have begun 3D printing firearms components in their homes to evade law enforcement detection and to produce these items at scale, and for possible sale.
3D printers are now small and affordable enough to be operated from home, costing as little as $200. There are numerous websites and online forums where digital blueprints for 3D printing unfinished receivers and other firearms parts are crowdsourced and shared. Once a 3D printer and digital 3D blueprint are obtained, the cost of printing an unfinished frame or receiver can be as low as $5.
Violent domestic extremists have shared blueprints for 3D-printed guns, including machine gun files, in online forums. These files are often disseminated with manuals to construct homemade firearms and explosive devices. The online forums are frequented by adherents to various extremist ideologies, including anti-government activists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and the Boogaloo movement.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, in partnership with the NYPD and other law enforcement partners, established the Ghost Guns Initiative in 2020 to address the proliferation of ghost guns in New York City. To date, the Ghost Guns Initiative has prosecuted cases involving the seizure of over 90 ghost gun parts, 42 fully assembled ghost guns, 24 serialized firearms, 423 high-capacity magazines, 47 silencers, and other gear including scopes and rapid-fire modification devices.
“3D printed guns are just as deadly as any other gun that you can buy at a gun dealer in the state of New York, and our laws must reflect that,” said Rebecca Fisher, Executive Director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. “I applaud District Attorney Bragg, said State Senator Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Rosenthal for once again leading to keep our streets and communities safe from gun violence.”
“As new technologies develop, our laws must develop with them. 3D printed guns are fast emerging as a threat to public safety, with the latest generation having capabilities nearly indistinguishable from those of traditionally manufactured guns,” said David Pucino, Deputy Chief Counsel, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. I thank District Attorney Bragg for this proactive work to keep New Yorkers safe.”
“We must stop the availability of these ghost guns that are killing our children,” said Jackie Rowe-Adams, Founder of Harlem Mothers S.A.V.E. “I applaud DA Bragg, Senator Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Rosenthal for introducing this critical piece of legislation to protect our communities from these illegal guns being manufactured right here in our backyard, and then readily available for use on our city streets.”
“3D-printed guns provide criminals and prohibited people easy access to untraceable firearms, making them a fast growing threat to gun safety,” said Nick Suplina, SVP for Law and Policy at Everytown for Gun Safety, the country’s largest gun violence prevention organization. “I applaud District Attorney Bragg, Senator Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Rosenthal for their efforts to keep New York ahead of the curve and, most importantly, safe.”
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Two threads related to the carrying of firearms have gained some traction on this forum, including a lengthy "misinformation" post. Thus far, nobody has provided any evidence or sources . The truth is below, and one can do their own research by searching 2C:58-4 and all of the specific statutes therein.
Carry permit does not authorize Open carry:
"...shall not be construed to authorize a [carry permit] holder to carry a handgun openly, provided that a brief, incidental exposure of a handgun while transferring it to or from a holster or due to the shifting of the person's body position or clothing shall be deemed a de minimis infraction within the contemplation of N.J.S.2C:2-11" (First source listed at the end of this post)
Carrying openly is a 4th degree indictable offense, per 2C:58-4.5(b):
"... b. to carry a handgun openly, whether or not in possession of a valid and lawfully issued permit to carry under N.J.S.2C:58-4 ..." (Second source listed at the end of this post)
Sources:

• https://casetext.com/statute/new-jersey-statutes/title-2c-the-new-jersey-code-of-criminal-justice/chapter-2c58-registration-of-manufacturers-and-wholesale-dealers-of-firearms/section-2c58-4-permits-to-carry-handguns#:~:text=Section%202C%3A58%2D4%20%2D%20Permits%20to%20carry%20handguns%20a,of%20N.J.S
• https://casetext.com/statute/new-jersey-statutes/title-2c-the-new-jersey-code-of-criminal-justice/chapter-2c58-registration-of-manufacturers-and-wholesale-dealers-of-firearms/section-2c58-45-effective-712023-restrictions-public-carrying-handgun

​
*** This is not a political statement or opinion on the issue. This is combatting misinformation purported by previous posts that cited no sources. ***

So, I’m writing this on my phone because I figured I should share my experiences. I’ve shared one already but I figured I should share more as I have had quite the run-ins with some odd things in the woods of the Pacific Northwest.
I live in Oregon, but I do tend to travel on my off time in the wilderness, despite my run ins I love the forest, nature, and all I just tend to be much more careful now.
This first story takes place in my home state. I have a buddy who is a park ranger and he shared me a story of his own. He works at Crater Lake National Park and was patrolling one of the trails that was reported by hikers who said they heard a bear in the area. He went out with a tranquilizer to move the bear out of an area that was close to a campground. He was walking as usual when he felt eyes on him…he began to hear movement in the woods, and he shouted out “anybody out there?”
No response.
He got his tranquilizer ready and proceeded toward the noise. But as he approached, he heard another noise behind him.
Now he was thinking, “Oh no there’s more than one out here.”
Not sure what to do he prepared for the worst but then to his relief it was two deer. He sighed in relief thanking God that he wasn’t going to be mauled that day. But suddenly he noticed blood on one of the deer’s antlers and next to it behind the bushes it came out of was the carcass of a black bear. The two deer just stared at him and returned to feasting on the bear. He wasn’t sure what to do, tranquilize them or risk being a victim? He decided it was best to take the shot and hit both. They didn’t even budge and just walked off into the forest.
He reported the dead carcass of the bear and just had a team remove the remains. Still gives him the Chills thinking back to that day.
The next story was when I went on a fishing trip with a friend in Washington.
We had set out to fish along this river that was calm that day.
We caught a few fish and even some crawdads. I love seafood so I wanted us to stay out longer to catch a few more fish. My friend ended up taking a nap while I continued to fish. All was well but I suddenly noticed something in the distance, something dark moving along the river. I thought it was some sort of log that was stuck and got free and was floating along the river, but its movements didn’t appear normal. It would move back and forth getting closer and closer. I began to get nervous; I can’t really explain why it just felt like I needed to get away from whatever this thing was.
I turned to my friend who was still asleep and heard a splash.
I looked back and the thing was just gone. I looked around wondering where it went, and I saw it. Perched on top of a tree, I thought it was a cougar, I grabbed my binoculars for a closer look, and it was crouched but was tall, lanky and had milky white eyes but covered in black feathers and wearing some sort of animal pelt. I felt a sudden sense of dread and fear I never felt before. I looked back to my friend to wake him but before I could I heard another splash and saw it was back in the water now headed to the boat. I said “F this “and then turned on the motor and hauled ass out of there. My friend woke up yelling at me and asked, “What the hell are you doing?” but I didn’t respond. When we got to the loading dock, I anchored the boat and told him to get in the truck and he protested about leaving the boat and I said, “We will get it later get in now!”
The car ride back I explained everything, and I saw how pale he got. He’s part Native American and explained to me that what I saw was a Skinwalker.
This next story takes place in the Canadian Wilderness. I was on a hunting trip with my buddy who has a cabin in Canada deep in the wilderness, off-grid type of deal. It was the beginning of winter so the snow wasn’t so bad to where you just couldn’t move. He had this goal to get a mountain lion. So, we headed out to a ridge where you could see out to a clearing where he said he saw this specific mountain lion every year. It always came to the same spot, maybe its home was nearby I don’t know. So, its nighttime, and we had a small fire going, I went to go take a piss when I noticed something or somethings… 3 humanoid figures were in the clearing, I quickly put the fire out, and my friend told me “Dude why did you do that?” I told him to shush, and we observed the 3 beings. The thing was this was way out in the middle of the wilderness, there’s absolutely no way that anybody else knew about this spot. Also, the 3 figures looked human, but I could tell they were much taller than normal and their arms, skinny and just moved unnaturally. They were circling something, but I couldn’t tell what exactly. Then one of the figures stopped and looked directly at us. We rushed to cover and didn’t really know what to do. So, we decided to not sleep that night and have our rifles ready just in case. The following morning, we went down to the clearing to see what those figures were circling and sure enough we saw footprints much larger than a normal human and the beheaded mountain lion that my friend wanted mounted in his cabin so badly but now not so much…
This story still comes across my mind to this day. Me and my buddy from our hiking club were going on a hike one day, it was a beautiful hike along a river, and we were looking for places to set up camp. We saw a campground with food and trash everywhere and at first, I was upset that someone just left this much of a mess here. But the longer I looked around the weirder things got…Their trash bag was still hoisted up on a tree branch but ripped open, the food was still there and if a bear or another animal got to the food, they would of ate everything. Also, there tents were still set up, but ripped as if from the inside, clothes still around and even 2 pairs of boots. The whole campground looked as if whoever was there was immediately in a rush to get out of there and just left all their belongings, not even bothering to take their shoes. The hairs on my neck stood up and both my buddy and I decided that we should call it a day and just hike back to the car. I reported the incident to the forest rangers, but they said they weren’t aware of anybody camping in the area and did not receive any reports from the area. Still freaks me out thinking what could have spooked these people so bad they left their tents, not even bothering to use the zipper and leaving their clothes and shoes behind.
This next one comes from a solo hike. I was doing a 3-day solo trip somewhere in Washington near the Canadian border. I was literally way out there no facilities or normal campground. I was just hiking along, and dusk was approaching, my campsite was already set but I just went for a stroll when I thought I heard a child’s voice calling for help. I thought it was my imagination, but I heard it again. I began to follow it and then I saw the child. He looked dirty; clothes still intact but his back was facing me. I called out to this kid, and he turned around but before he could speak, he was pulled by someone or something down on the other side of this hill. Then I heard a loud crash as if a metal down shut. I ran to where I saw the kid and saw nothing but the same clothes, he was wearing neatly folded and his shoes right next to them. After a few minutes to no avail, I made my way back to the campsite gathered all my things and headed back. I went to the forest ranger station and told them about what I saw. Never found out if they found that kid or not.
Now this story comes from my close friend in Oregon, but this happened in Washington. So, I was hanging out with my friend who has pretty much grew up in the outdoors all his life and I asked him what his most creepy experience in the woods was. He told me he didn’t have a lot of experiences like that aside from hearing weird things at night when he went camping. But, this one time he was out hiking with his dog, they usually are a pair for hiking with friends but this time he was out hiking with just his dog in the deep woods of Washington on a trail that had very little traffic, like you wouldn’t expect to run into anybody. So, his dog is off leash, roaming a little in front of him and as they come to a corner the dog just stopped and his hair stood on the back of his neck, did a single bark moved up one step and then just ran behind my friend, not behind his legs but down the trail behind my friend, about 25 yards behind him. My friend pulled out his firearm and aimed forward, considering this was an area where black bears are he thought maybe his dog saw a bear but after a few minutes he didn’t find anything, no animals, nothing. His dog refused to go near him even after he kept calling for his dog. He eventually left the trail with his dog and got back home in one piece. But he said he never saw his dog act like that, his dog and he have hiked plenty, and his dog has been spooked before, but he never acted that way and he would always come back to my friend even when spooked.
This last story I have for now occurred when I was hunting with my buddy in Washington. The area still had trees but was on the dryer side with us being closer to the desert.
We had a deer blind set up near a clearing and scanned the area for some deer when we noticed a big elk with a couple of doe. They were grazing and we just watched since we didn’t want this deer.
What was odd though was the weather began to get rainy and fog rolled in as evening was approaching. We noticed that the elk began to showcase defensive behavior, going back and forth making grunting noises and huffing as it began to set up a defensive area around the doe who were now cowering in a small area. Kind of like “Back up these are mine” This elk was staring at the tree line, and we thought, “oh shit maybe it’s a bear”. But to our surprise it wasn’t, it was another elk. We got a little excited thinking we were about to see these two elk go at it to see who gets to take the herd of doe home, but I stopped once I put it together. Why did the doe seem so afraid then?
Then I saw another elk and another and another all just staring at the protective elk.
But then to our shock all the elks began to stand. On two legs.
Now sometimes deer will do this as a protective or displaying behavior of superiority, but these elk were not.
The protective elk began to show more aggression attempting to scare them off.
My friend whispered to me. “What the hell is this, I’ve never seen this before in my life.”
My friend has been hunting for over 15 years from Alaska all the way to Colorado and parts in the East coast. A seasoned man who didn’t scare easily but I could tell this freaked him out.
The group of bipedal elk just stood there and then they all bolted towards the Elk and the elk charged them at the same time. Managing to impale two of the elks but he was outnumbered, and the elks didn’t use their antlers but began to bite the elk with what looked like jagged sharp fangs.
It was horrible. They then they circled the elk and just looked up to the moon and made these god-awful gurgling noises
It looked like some sort of F’d up ritual.
We decided that we should leave and began to grab our things to leave. I’m positive that we were too far for anyone to hear but I sweat as soon as we moved one of the deer stopped and looked right at us.
And that’s when we nopped out of there, we ran all the way to the truck hoping we didn’t run into those elks or whatever the hell those things were. I have seen deer display hostile behavior but never like that.
We were rushing to throw our stuff and sped out onto the dirt road. We got about 1/4 a mile away when we noticed a giant log blocking our path that wasn’t there before.
My friend said: “dammit we have to move it”
Luckily, we had a chainsaw in the back, and he cut some of the log away so we could move it. But God those logs were heavy, when we got to the last of the log my friend said, “help me move it!” I joined in, and we both lifted the last of the log out of the way out we noticed something on the road. It was one of those deer. Just standing looking at us. We backed up towards the truck my friend not even caring to grab the chainsaw and I swear it opened its mouth and said “hhe hhe-hel-help me moo-move iiiit”
It was distorted but sounded exactly like my friend.
We just ran to the truck from there and we hit the gas and this deer just ran towards the truck and hopped on the front and then the top of the truck and I’m just shitting bricks at this point and attempt to grab the shotgun from under the seat when my friend says “hang on” and just hits the brakes hard and this deer just goes flying off the truck and he quickly speeds around it .
We stayed at a hotel after driving 2 hours straight back to civilization.
Honestly, I believe deer just have some messed up ways, but I really don’t know what they were but I’m positive they weren’t deer, I don’t know what they were.
Part 2
I figured I’d mention this since I didn’t add it to my previous post.
These experiences I had forever changed my perspective on the woods and I questioned whether I should ever step foot in the woods again. I don’t know why I attract these experiences but part of it motivates me to keep going to share what I see.
This other story was a time I went out with a friend to explore. We were in the backcountry just exploring and I suddenly saw this weird structure. My friend decided we should check it out and we saw this stone-like structure covered in moss and it must have been there for decades. What was weird though it had this rectangular structure that had a door, the door was perfectly preserved as if someone just installed it. No rust on the door handle or any weather damage, it’s like it came fresh out of the store.
I went to get a closer look and I was about to try to open the door when my internal gut feeling was screaming to me that something was wrong and we should not be here, and extreme sense of fear flooded my entire being and my hair on the back of my neck stood up.
My friend told me “What’s wrong?”
I told him “Maybe we should just go”
And he said “we can’t just leave now let’s at least see what’s inside”
Just as I fought my fear off and went for the handle the door began to creak open and I felt something was just VERY wrong, and I think my friend just instinctively knew we had to run, and we just got the hell out of dodge.
We returned with more people and armed to the teeth to try the door again.
But we couldn’t find the structure anywhere despite me marking this area on my map before we even attempted the door.
I always wondered what would have happened had I opened that door….
This next one I was camping with my old roommate, and we were enjoying the night and headed to bed soon after our fire was put out.
Around 3 am I had to piss so I went to the tree at the edge of our campsite
I heard movement after I finished and thought it was my friend having to do the same as me. A few feet away I gave him the okay hand sign and he gave it back
But the way his fingers moved just looked …wrong
I thought maybe I was just tired and headed back to my tent.
The following morning, we made breakfast and I mentioned to him how I drank too much the night before and don’t like having to piss at night but at least I wasn’t the only one who had to go.
My friend looked confused by that last part and said “what do you mean only one? “
I told him: “you don’t remember? We went to pee at the same time.” Then I showed him the okay gesture that I gave him last night to jog his memory and he just told me: “dude I didn’t get up at all last night…”
A chill ran up my spine and I just played it off that I was dreaming.
I don’t know who or what that was last night, we never saw anybody out there and I checked around the campsite after breakfast for footprints, saw mine but nobody’s where I thought I saw my friend the night before.
This next one is like the previous one, but I was camping with my girlfriend at the time. We had a great night doing you know couple of things and then in the middle of the night I had to piss. Did my business at a nearby tree, and then I heard my girlfriend calling my name, in the woods. I figured she had to go to and just wanted to have some privacy. Maybe she needed toilet paper and forgot, as I went to the tent to grab a roll, I heard her call my name again then said help me.
I thought about going over to her but went to grab the roll anyway because I didn’t want to go out there then she tells me she needs the toilet paper. As I opened the tent, I just stood there surprised, my girlfriend was sound asleep still. So, who was calling my name?... I heard my name again but louder and my girlfriend's voice saying “COME HERE NOW”
I just decided to go in the tent, and just laid there silent, not sure what to do. I didn’t hear anything for the rest of the night and passed out after the surge of adrenaline just put me out.
I didn’t tell my girlfriend about it, and just told her we had to cut the trip short because I forgot I have a paper to write.
This Last one happened in 2019. I took a drive on a forest road about 45 mins in. Parked near this trailhead and took off to the trail.
I was admiring the flora and fauna and just going on a normal hike when I noticed my vision completely changed as if I was looking through prescription glasses that weren’t mine. The vegetation changed and it was daylight when I was hiking but now it was dark as if sunset just passed.
This happens almost instantly. It was like I was in a completely new environment.
I then felt something graze my shoulder, it was a hairy arm, like the one you’d see from an ape or Bigfoot, and it was about to grab me, but I managed to take a step back, and I just see the hand grab where my neck would have been. I felt this sudden sense of dread and just began to backpedal and after a couple of steps, my vision went back to normal. The sunlight returned as well as the flora and fauna. I just saw a fuzzy-like outline in a circular shape in front of me from where I just stepped out of, and it eventually disappeared the more steps back I took.
I just stood there completely shocked about what just happened and came to my senses as my internal red flags were going off and I just turned around and ran to my truck and got out of the area. I never had this happen to me before and it thankfully hasn’t happened since. Since this happened, I have never gone hiking alone again.
To end this off, I just want to add that I enjoy the woods and nature it is full of beauty and wonder. But there are things out there…things even the natives knew to stay away from. There are things out there, that don’t care about you, or that you have families, or loved ones. I still go out to the woods, but after that last experience, it took me a long time to get the courage to go out there again. I never go out for solo hikes anymore, and if I can’t go with someone, I always take my dog. Thanks for hearing my stories and I’ll be sure to share any future experiences I have.

Hello everyone. I recently platinummed every Batman Arkham Game on the PSVITA and would like to talk about the experience.
Lets start with the first Arkham game released on VITA, 2013's Batman Arkham Origins Blackgate. A sort of sister game to Arkham Origins. Batman Arkham Origins Blackgate (which I'm just going to call BAOB for short) was initially released for the 3DS and VITA and has been ported to other PS4, XB1 and PC. Unlike other Arkham games, BAOB is a 2.5 side scrolling Metroidvania-type game. It has a sorta similar freeflow combat system and predator sections comparable to the console games. The premise of the game is that a few months after the events of Arkham Origins, a riot breaks out at Blackgate penitentiary. With Joker, Black Mask and Penguin taking control of different sections of the prison. Batman has to work with Catwoman (her first canonical appearance in the ArkhamVerse) and explore different sections of the prison to contain the situation.
The game really takes advantage of its metroidvania premise. Batman enters Blackgate with just the baterang and a basic Cryptographic Sequencer that can only hack the most basic looks. You must then explore the rest of the prison, going in between areas to collect the rest of Batman's gadgets (it's a little weird why Batman's gear is in various WayneTech crates scattered randomly all over the place but eh, you kinda need that for a Metroidvania) to overcome obstacles.
Batman's final goal is to reach the Arkham Wing of the prison. To this, he needs to take down the 3 main bosses, Joker, Black Mask and Penguin to gain access as Joker has the administration codes and has taken control of the Admin building. Black Mask has shut off the power to the Arkham Wing (and his tampering of the generators risks blowing up the place) and has taken control of the Industrial Section of Blackgate. Penguin has taken control of the Cell Blocks and is directly guarding the door to the Arkham Wing.
The main "gimmick" here is that you can tackle these bosses in any order you want. And the game changes depending on which order you choose. Like, the entire final sequence of the game is entirely different depending on which boss you did last. Doing Joker last has him rig these 5 gas filled presents you must disarm. And these presents are placed all over Blackgate. Doing Penguin last changes the ending sequence to needing to rescue 5 hostages guarded by elite minigun enemies that need to be taken out by the Batclaw. These hostages are in completely different areas to Joker's presents. Doing Black Mask last has the ending sequence consist of needing to get to 5 different junction boxes, "activating them", then racing to find the 3 panels they connect to nearby in a short amount of time to hit them with the explosive gel (I personally found this to be the most fun of the 3 ending sequences). These junction boxes are in different areas to the presents and hostages. The final cutscene is also different.
In addition, there are also more minor changes depending on your order. For example, saving Penguin for last has a mini-segment where when you are chasing him, he is able to lock Batman in a room and disperse some poison gas since he had more time to prepare traps for Batman as Batman was busy taking the other bosses down first.
The gameplay is also different but not in the way you expect. Like, the actual fights don't change depending on which order you do things in. Penguin will fight you the same way regardless of if he's the first or final boss you pick. But how you can fight him is different depending on which gadgets you picked up and when you choose to fight them.
Like, during my first playthrough of the game, I went after Penguin first and I found his boss fight extremely difficult. He packs these minigun wielding henchmen that can melt you if they see you. You cannot brute force or attack them like you can with other armed enemies. And there are no hiding spots so losing these alerted enemies is difficult. The only way to eliminate these enemies is to use the Batclaw on them but that takes a few seconds and alerts every enemy to you. If you get shot at while doing this, it deals heavy damage and frees the enemy. He also sends these drones out after you which cannot be dealt with. Suffice it to say, I died a lot. I barely squeaked through this fight.
On my second playthrough, I did Penguin second. As a result of doing Joker first and a good chunk of Black Mask's section, I had more armour and gadgets like the Shock Baterang and Explosive Gel Launcher which made Penguin's fight more manageable. You can use the Shock Baterang and Explosive Gel to destroy the drones and draw enemies to them. The added armour also helped me take a few more shots.
The most extreme example of this is with the Solomon Grundy Boss Fight you get as you are exploring Black Mask's sections. Normally, in this boss fight, Grundy charges Batman. You have to use the explosive gel launcher (that you get from Black Mask's section) to blow up these vents as Grundy charges through them which blinds him, and then blow up these junction boxes as the stunned Grundy goes underneath them. This shocks Grundy and damages him. He then destroys that Junction Box. You need to repeat this 2 more times with different junction boxes. But, if you have the Shock Batering (which you get from doing a good chunk of Joker's section first), you can just shock the water in front of Grundy as soon as the fight starts and beat him up to instantly KO him. So instead of a 3 phase fight where you need to time 2 different explosive gel uses and dodge a charging Grundy 3 times, it's a 1 phase fight where you just throw a Shock Batering and be done with an entire boss fight early. The game even gives you a trophy for it "Bad Case of the Mondays - Defeat Grundy using the Shock Batarang and water" (also, sidenote but Batman seems to be familiar with Grundy here. I thought this was supposed to be the first time Batman and Grundy met?).
Speaking of which, lets talk about what it takes to platinum this game. If you've read my prior platinum reviews, you'll notice I usually start by describing what the trophies are, how I got them and then a review of the game itself. I chose to instead do a summary of the game, then the trophies, then a review because this game is really confusing to platinum. Being a VITA game released in 2013 means there isn't as much info or resources on some aspects of the game or its trophies.
The game has 31 trophies. 16 of which are missable and requires at least 2.9 playthroughs to get all the trophies.
Part of this is due to Metroidvania nature of the game. Depending on which order you play the game, you can miss sections that house collectibles (for example, if you do Black Mask last, destroying the Junction Boxes takes you to an area of the Cell Blocks you have to no reason to really go to. Which houses 2 of Penguin's collectibles. Some armour and gadget upgrades can no longer be collected if you don't collect them before completing a playthrough), or not have the means to complete a challenge or once you complete it normally, it is no longer present to reuse. Such as the aforementioned Grundy trophy. Another example is the trophy "Unnecessary Roughness - Get a 50 hit combo" and " LEAGUE OF SHADOWS - Get a 100 hit combo". That trophy can only be gotten in one specific place in Joker's section as there is nowhere else in the game with enough armoured enemies for you to beat up on to get close to 100. And once you complete this fight, the enemies don't respawn. There are no challenge rooms or any equivalent.
I even tried doing this on other combat encounters and the most I was able to get was 83 even after playing perfectly and farming for high hits. In that one Joker section, I managed to get 123 and that was after multiple attempts. Though, I've read from others on other sites that this is RNG and results aren't consistent.
The collectibles were confusing to get. Both in collecting them and what to do for the trophies. BAOB has quite a few different collectibles. The first are Detective Cases. These shed light on the lore and background of the story and are really cool in that regard. I loved reading them and trying figure out the mystery before it was solved. However, they can be extremely annoying to find. Each Case requires you find between 2-6 corresponding clues scattered all over the game. These clues can be anything from a large broken door to a tiny USB flash drive to generic rubble. Unlike other Arkham games, Detective Vision doesn't automatically highlight items of interest for you. Instead you must stop and manually scan an area by dragging your finger across the touch screen to move a cursor. If the cursor lands on an item of interest, it will be green. Then it scans the item which takes about a second. It then becomes yellow in Detective Vision. If it's a Clue, the game will inform you you've found a Clue and which Detective Case it belongs to.
I love the idea of these Detective Cases and Clues, but the way the game handles them is pretty annoying. Like I said, the game doesn't highlight them beforehand and they can be literally anything. Often they are innocuous things that don't really stand out. Especially given how cluttered environments can be. It can be really hard to tell if a particular area even has a clue never mind what it even is. Especially as there often isn't much consistency in what clues can or can't be. Like, in a room filled with say, paper, computer monitors, rubble on the ground, lights etc any of these can be clues. In fact, all of the items I have listed are clues in other rooms. On top of that, some clues cannot be scanned unless Batman is in the correct position even though the perspective doesn't reflect that and you can see the collectible. For example, one of the clues, a USB Flash Drive, requires Batman to be next to it as there is a table blocking his view to the USB Flash Drive even though the player can see the USB and hover over it. And some Clues don't require this. One Clue was scanning this white cloth which was in the cross section of a wall while Batman was in a vent and couldn't even "see" from his perspective. But you could scan it from seemingly anywhere.
There is some signposting when the player might have found an area that houses a Clue. If the player finds a secret area like a vent that leads to a random cluttered room with nothing to interact with, that usually houses a Clue. But I feel that still highlights an issue, if aren't using a guide, you wouldn't know where or even if a Clue is in an area. And if it is, if you can even scan it or need to do something first. The end result is that it really slows the pace looking for Clues. The game doesn't have the equivalent of Riddler Maps that give you an accurate idea of what you're looking for and where (I can't believe this game made me miss Riddler trophies lol).
Detective Cases are also required for multiple trophies and carry over between NG+ runs. Meaning if you find a Clue in one playthrough, you do not need to re-scan it in a NG+ run. So if you can get all the Detective Cases early, you're set for the rest of the playthroughs. There are 2 trophies related to Detective Cases, "World's Greatest Detective - Complete all detective cases" which you can do on first playthrough (I recommend it as you're then set), and "The Collector - Find all detective cases and have all pickups and upgrades" which requires you have all the Detective Cases but cannot be achieved until the very end of your final playthrough.
The second set of collectibles are "Gear, Armour, Gadget and Gauntlet Upgrades". These include stuff like armour pieces (4 of which gives you more health which can be really helpful), Rush upgrades (Rush is a mechanic where if you have full health when you attack enemies, you do extra damage. I personally never saw much use in it) and Gauntlet Upgrades (increases the base damage of your attacks. But I personally never felt like they were that powerful). Gadgets also get upgrades. Such as the Batering being upgraded to the Shock Baterings or the Explosive Gel Launcher getting upgraded to the Explosive Glue Gel Launcher. You will find most of the gadget upgrades as part of the main story as they unlock more tools to explore the map. Wheras only one gadget upgrade (the proximity upgrade for the Gel Launcher) and all the Armour, Gear and Gauntlet ones are entirely optional and missable.
I like the idea of these upgrades. They are typical in Metroidvanias. But they aren't very useful in BAOB. Aside from armour which can help you in your first playthrough (but can be potentially redundant if you get a specific suit), Rush and Gauntlet don't make much of an impact. They don't even make bosses easier since you deal with them in preset ways anyway. The gadget upgrades are mostly mandatory anyway. But unlike Detective Cases, they appear as these black boxes/crates and if you scan one with Detective Vision, the rest will be highlighted in Detective Vision as well. So at least you "know" what they are when you see them.
These collectibles do not carry in between NG+ runs. So if you find all the upgrades in one playthrough, they will be present for another and you can collect them again to get the same upgrades as before. There are individual trophies for getting all the armour, gadget and gauntlet upgrades which you can get in any playthrough. However, you will need to re-collect them all for your final playthrough in order to get the Collector Trophy.
I really dislike this aspect. Aside from the fact you have to re-collect them to get the Collector trophy, even just for a casual NG+ run, one of the coolest aspect of a NG+ in a playthrough of any game is that you're powered up from the upgrades you got in prior run. In the other Arkham games, when you do a NG+ run, you have all the upgrades and most of the collectibles from your last playthrough (these games do compensate by taking away counter indicators). Which means in the case of BAOB, it's not really that much of a NG+ in terms of gameplay (ignoring the suits that is). I can understand not giving the player all the gadgets and their upgrades since that blocks progression. But I feel in the case of BAOB, you can already get most of the gadgets and their upgrades before you take on any of the big 3 bosses. Aside from the Cryptographic Sequencer upgrades, I genuinely feel you can give the player all the other gadgets and upgrades from the start of the game and it wouldn't break the game.
The third set of Collectibles are what I call "Boss Collectibles". These consist of 20 Joker Teeth (found in the Administration Building), 20 Penguin Birdcages (found in the Cell Blocks) and 20 Black Masks (found in the Industrial Building). You break them by throwing a Baterang at them. Though some Joker teeth and Penguin Birdcages will explode if you get close them since they are designed to be traps. That still counts as breaking them.
These Collectibles do not carry over in between NG+ Runs. So if you destroy 15 Joker Teeth in a playthrough, in NG+ it will act like you haven't destroyed any Joker Teeth. So all 20 are back in the world. There are individual trophies for getting each set of these collectibles but no trophy for getting them in conjunction with other trophies. The Collector Trophy doesn't require you get these collectibles as well (which none of the VITA guides I looked at mentioned. I had to go to Xbox Achievement forums to find that out). Meaning if you get all of these collectibles in a playthrough and get their corresponding trophies, then in NG+ run, they will still show up but you don't have to collect them again.
I'm not complaining that I don't have to re-collect these. But I ask why they respawn if they aren't counted for additional trophies? Surely it would be better if they stayed gone for NG+? My only guess would be that they indicate to a player they haven't fully explored an area yet?
Also, the trophy for the 20 Joker Teeth and 20 Penguin Birdcages are Silver. But why is the trophy for the 20 Black Masks Bronze? This is an insult to Black Mask! The Arkham Games really do Black Mask dirty. In Origins, he gets ousted as the main villain by Joker and in BAOB, he doesn't even get the same tier of trophy as the other 2 main bosses' collectibles.
The fourth set of collectibles are Suit Pieces. There are 5 suits you can get in BAOB. Only 3 of which are needed for any trophies. You have the standard Arkham Origins suit you start with (the game's description says it provides "minimal ballistic protection and offensive capabilities". Which is odd given how bulky and armoured it is. Like, it looks more powerful and armoured than all the other suits in the game lol). It offers no additional bonuses. You have the Beware the Batman suit from the CGI Animated show Beware The Batman (I remember watching a few episodes when I first came out. I remember liking it). It isn't "Batman wearing a suit inspired by that suit", it's that 3D model of Batman in the game. His proportions look whack. Like his chest is comically large since its not "realistic" like the other models in BOAB. If you've been the Animated Batman Suit in Arkham City, it's like that. I do like this skin. It's really cool and it offers a bonus in that reduces damage from firearms by 50% (I guess that animated chest is more powerful than Arkham Origin Batman's armour). You can only unlock this suit if you have played Arkham Origins on PS3. Fortunately, even if you haven't, it's not required for any trophies. The suits that are required for trophies are the Red Son Batsuit (which increases health regeneration by 50%), the New 52 Suit (increases damage by 25%), One Million Suit (decreases all damage taken by 25%) and the Darkest Night/Zombie suit (makes Batman invulnerable to all damage).
Apparently, on the remaster for PS4, XB1 and PC, there are more suits like the The Dark Knight Returns suit which makes you invulnerable and increases damage by 25%. But I won't be talking about that.
To unlock a suit for the trophies, you need to find the 5 pieces of the suit scattered over the game. The suits and all their pieces you've found carry over into NG+. So if you've found all the pieces for the Darkest Night suit and 4/5 pieces for the Red Son Suit, on your NG+, you will have access to the Darkest Knight suit and have 4/5 pieces for the Red Son Suit.
There is one catch with the suits, you cannot collect all the pieces in one playthrough. Remember earlier when I said the game has different ending sequences depending on which boss you fight last? This sequence also gives you a different final piece for one of the batsuits. Like, if you fight Joker last and do the present sequence, the final present contains the final piece of the Red Son Batsuit. If you do Penguin last, the final hostage contains the final piece of the New 52 Suit. And same for Black Mask and the 1 million suit. Meaning that in order to get all the suits, you need to NG+ this game twice so you can get the final pieces (and also the trophy for completing each of the sequences).
By the way, it is possible to accidentally miss picking up the final piece here. Requiring you to NG+ the whole game again and fight the same boss again last to get the piece again. So make sure you don't miss it.
But, any benefits these suits would give you is rendered moot by the Zombie suit. This is the only suit whose 5 pieces don't depend on how you play the game so you can get it no matter the playthrough. And it breaks the game. You are invulnerable to any damage. Including stuff like Joker gas so combat is a joke. The only place where you can still die is in Black Mask's boss fight as, if he shoots you, you die automatically for some reason. But that's not really a problem since you don't really fight him directly anyway. Every other combat encounter is trivial now. The only "downside" is that you are invulnerable but not invincible. Meaning enemies can still hit you which can stagger and stun Batman. This can interrupt any combos or moves he was doing. But that can be dealt with easily since you don't lose any health anymore.
Putting all this together, if you want to platinum this game (or more likely, the PS4/XB1/PC version since you aren't going to be playing this on the VITA lol), here's my "optimal" plan.
Playthrough 1: Try doing as much as you can of the Administration/Joker section first. This also gets you the Shock Baterang and Line Launcher gadgets. And the chance to try for the 100 hit combo trophy. Hopefully it's more doable if you go for it early and don't have any damage upgrades. Spam that stun beatdown move.
Once you rescue the Warden, go the Industrial Area and play through enough of Black Mask's section until you get the Explosive Gel Launcher.
At this point you are set to go after Joker or Penguin as you have all the tools you need to get to them (as you can get the remaining tools to get to them like the Batclaw and Tightrope upgrades are found along the way to the boss). The Shock Batering will make quick work of Grundy and make Penguin's boss fight easier.
I would recommend playing more of Black Mask's section until you get the green upgrade for the Cryptographer Sequencer as that can save you a second run all the way back to get the Glue upgrade but you can do this later if you want. It is a little confusing anyway if you haven't played the game before. The game eventually marks on the map where you have to go if you play "naturally".
Lets say you want to do Joker last for this playthrough and Penguin first. Head to the Cell Blocks and complete it as much as you can until Penguin hides in the Arkham Wing and Catwoman tells you that you can use the Lighthouse to get to Penguin. Before you leave the Cell Blocks to get to the Lighthouse, if you have the Green codes, you can get the Glue Gel upgrade and save yourself a trip. It is quite out of the way so if you're unsure where to go, you can ignore this and go straight to the Lighthouse and through it to get to Penguin.
Once Penguin is down, you can return to the Industrial Building and continue pursuing Black Mask. If you haven't gotten the Glue Upgrade yet in the Cell Blocks, the game marks for you where it is on your map. After you get it, you can go after Black Mask and take him down. Then backtrack to where Joker's section starts in Industrial. Follow it until you beat Joker.
You can then enter the Arkham Wing. Enter it, make sure you nab the Zombie Suit Piece located here. Then do Joker's Present Ending Sequence, making sure to grab the final Red Son Suit piece. Then, before you go to the Lighthouse for the final confrontation with Catwoman, try scouring the 3 main areas and get the collectibles of interest. For a first playthrough, I advise getting all the Detective Cases, Joker Teeth, Penguin Birdcages, Black Masks and all remaining suit pieces. That way, you don't have to worry about them again. You can ignore any optional armour, gauntlet and Rush upgrades for now. I recommend collectibles guides online.
Once you beat Catwoman, start a NG+ on the same save file you just beat the game with.
Playthrough 2: Lets say you want to beat Black Mask last for this one.
Put on the zombie suit for the invincibility.
Repeat what I said earlier about Administration first, then Industrial and get the Explosive Gel (and Green Codes early if you want). You can then backtrack and go after Joker since he's in the same building anyway. Then go to the Cell Blocks and go after Penguin. You can then get the Glue Gel upgrade along the way. Leaving you set for Black Mask. Make sure to grab his suit piece. Complete the story and do another NG+ on that save file.
Playthrough 3: Now lets say you want to do Penguin last.
Same deal. Admin first. Then industrial. Only now, you have to get the Green Codes early. You can go after Joker now. Then go to the Cell Blocks. You can choose to play some of Penguin's section until he flees to the Arkham Wing and then get the Glue Gel upgrade here if you want. But you have to get the Glue Gel Upgrade here to be able to go after Black Mask.
Once you do that, and then go after and take down Penguin and then get his suit piece. You are now free to go after any remaining upgrade collectibles one final time. Then you're done. No need to beat the game for the 3rd time.
So yeah, BOAB isn't difficult to platinum once you know what to do but it is confusing to even know what you have to do even if you have a guide at times.
As for the game itself, my feelings on it are complicated. If you asked me what I thought of the game during and even after my first playthrough, I'd tell you I really disliked the game. Maybe even that I hated the game. Because BOAB doesn't make a good first impression.
Let start with the combat. On the surface, it looks similar to typical Arkham combat. You do strikes, can bounce between enemies, counter attacks, cape stun, jump over enemies and ground takedown. Only on a 2D plane. Enemies can move a bit "up and down" on that plane but Batman will usually adjust his position as well to compensate. The issue is the flow and responsiveness. Like, in the main Arkham games, when you're fighting a group of enemies and there is a knife or armoured enemy coming at you and you need to respond, you can typically either try cape stunning them early or jumping ovearound them to evade them. If you do this, Batman will typically "lunge" at the enemy which closes the distance and keeps the flow going. If you have to cape stun an enemy, the game will help you out by prioritizing the most dangerous enemy and even cape stunning multiple enemies if your cape stun gets them as well. This is a bit forgiving, sure, but it ensures the controls are responsive and the player's intentions are read.
BAOB messes this up royally. Moves like the cape stun and counter have no "lunge" nor can they work on multiple enemies at once. So if you do a cape stun, Batman will do it right in front of him. If there isn't an enemy exactly right in front of him, the attack will whiff and you will take a lot of damage. If an enemy is about to attack you and you try responding but there is another enemy close by or next to him, Batman may target that one instead and you will take a lot of damage. Even the dodge/evade move is whack and arguably even less responsive. You are supposed to be able to jump over enemies that are right in front of you by double tapping X but there were times I mashed it and it wouldn't work (and other times it did). And other times when it did register, Batman would do a normal roll which is useless and would result in taking damage. The end result is a combat system that works against the muscle memory learned from every other Arkham game and is still less fun because of how unresponsive it is.
The game has Predator Stealth Sections but they aren't as fun as the main versions. In part because of the limited gadgets and moves. But also partly to the design. Armed enemies do crazy amounts of damage, have great eyesight and can track you much further. Many environments often aren't even big enough or offer enough ways to lose enemies' attention. Resulting in a much slower "trial and error" approach as you find the one set of moves and silent takedowns that work. Even standard moves and approaches in other Arkham games aren't as helpful here. For example, snaring enemies onto gargoyles/vantage points is useless because it attracts too much attention and enemies will see you moving away after doing it.
The other Arkham games were more fun here because the areas were designed with multiple routes so there were multiple options and ways to both take out enemies and escape when you made a mistake. On top of that, enemies didn't have the best eyesight and would even be startled for a few seconds if they saw you. Giving you time to respond by trying to take them out or get away or use smoke bombs etc.
To BAOB's credit, there are some good ideas here. For example, some Predator Sections have chandeliers you can hit with a baterang to make it fall and KO enemies. Some have bells you can hit with a batering to draw enemies attention. But the game never expands on these ideas or fleshes them out so Predator Segments never feel great to play. So I don't believe it's a flaw of the perspective and hardware. I truly believe it was possible for BAOB to have pretty fun and good Predator Segments (hell, Mark of the Ninja shows you can do it in even stricter 2D).
The pacing of the game is also whack. Like I said earlier, Detective Vision doesn't automatically highlight stuff so you have to stop and manually scan stuff. But this also extends to objects you can interact with the environment. Like, if there's a wall you can blow up with the explosive gel to progress, you can't put explosive gel on it until you scan it first. Even if you know that wall is there, you can't target it with the Explosive Gel Launcher until it is scanned. Same for debris or switches you can interact with using the Batering and Batclaw. On top of that, many of these interactibles don't look distinct. Like, in Batman Arkham Asylum, walls you can use the explosive gel on have a crumbled look you can recognize even without Detective Vision. But not so in BAOB where Explosive Gel walls and regular walls look the same. The end result is that it makes a first playthrough extremely stop and go which prevents a good flow going. You're always stopping and looking for things to scan. And once you do, waiting an extra second for it to complete scanning. And doing this hundreds of times for around 8 hours? It really drags the experience down. The experience would be a lot better if the scan was an optional tool beginners could rely on if they were stuck or confused. While if you were more experienced, you could just play normally and use gadgets directly without needing to scan first. And also if the scan was instantaneous.
With all these aspects, I don't blame anyone for dropping this game or disliking it.
However, when I was doing my second playthrough on NG+ for the trophies, something weird happened. I believe it's called Stockholm Syndrome because I was genuinely enjoying myself. I was surprised. Why am I enjoying myself?
I think it's because at that point, I was so used to the game's flaws that I could bypass them and, as a result, see its positives?
Like, the combat still has its issues, but by then, I knew how to position myself beforehand so knife, armoured and baton enemies were less of an issue so I could focus on bouncing between enemies with strikes and counters. Predator Segments were still an issue but I knew from prior trial and errors where to position myself and take out enemies. Navigation was no longer an issue since I already knew where everything was and didn't need to find any collectibles. So I could focus on using my knowledge of the game to speedrun. And that was fun. It was fun charting my own path to play the game in a way as to get all the gadgets and upgrades and hit the bosses in the desired order. And I could appreciate how truly open ended the game was and how it rewarded me for my knowledge by letting me save time by getting gadgets in fewer trips and easily stomping bosses. I truly felt like I was the master here.
The closest analogue would be like a Hitman level where you know exactly where everything is so you just go and get the things and be an absolute master.
Even the story was more interesting. I could read the Detective Cases and see all the background and it's really well thought out. Stuff like how the main bosses each orchestrated their own breakouts and took control or other DC characters like Toy Man were involved.
Of course, the main difference here with something like Hitman, or even other Metroidvanias is that the experience is fun on the first playthrough and that the mechanics are solid enough that you don't need to "get used to the flaws" to have fun. Like, it's nice that I eventually came to enjoy and appreciate BAOB, but the experience would have been better if the combat flowed better, if Predator Sections were more open ended, if the game didn't require you to scan everything. Then even a first playthrough would be more fun and more people would see the game's more unique aspects.
Playing BAOB made me wish for a modern remake of this game. One with those improved combat/stealth etc but also more open ended design.
Imagine a 3D version of this game. Like, Batman Arkham Asylum but a complete Metroidvania where you can explore different parts of the Asylum, pick up gadgets in different orders and boss fights and sequences would be different depending on when you do them. Basically, BAOB but on steroids.
In closing, BAOB is arguably the worst Arkham game. Its execution of many of the gameplay features of its console counterparts is often lacking. But it's arguably the most unique Arkham game for how truly open ended it is and how cool it is as a Metroidvania. I wish this game had more time and resources during development because it could have been one of the best games in this series and on the VITA.
This is probably going to be my last platinum for a while. I might do Lego Batman 2 VITA at some point in the future. I'm currently playing Rainbow 6 Siege and it's quite fun. Don't have any plans to write about it though.
See you all in 2024.

I really only use one social media platform (reddit). I only use reddit for its firearms subs and with reddit seemingly killing off 3rd party apps, (see link below) many people, myself included, will likely drop reddit wholesale. I use firearms, and a few other gun related subs to keep up with firearm related politics, judicial cases, firearm knowledge, 3d printing, etc.
What other social media / community forum groups do you guys use or suggest that have firearms related communities?
Background info here: https://www.reddit.com/AskReddit/comments/13x9sy7/now_that_reddit_are_killing_3rd_party_apps_on

Pat Blanchfield’s book keeps getting delayed and now we have to wait until next year for its publication. Until then, I want to read more about the strange internal happenings of the consumer gun industry.
One of my more schizo beliefs is that not only do firearm manufacturers want mass shootings to happen, they use subliminal messaging in their marketing to basically program racist anime forum posters to shoot up grocery stores.
“Commit a crime good enough to copycat”
“No need to enlist, do the Kandahar massacre from the comfort of your own home”
“Stephen paddock wasn’t tacticool enough”
Anyway, this isn’t a schizopost, I digress. Are there any books out there about weird 👁️ shit regarding private firearms industry execs?

Hello everyone, This going to my first post on the forum and I want to tell everyone now I am an absolute newbie to the gun world. I have shot guns like 9mm hand guns, 12 gauge shotguns, and a .22lr bolt action but I have never owned a firearm in my life so I am looking to get my first one. I was looking at the ar-15 platform and fell in love with the looks of it. I was originally gonna go all out and go .300 blackout because I am into weird and exotic stuff in general and it just seemed like a fun caliber to shoot despite me living in California and not having access to a suppressor legally and the extreme high price of .300 blackout. However, everyone in the CAguns forum has completely talked me out of it(and for good reason). I am still interested in the ar-15 platform as a whole but I think I would like to shoot a smaller caliber like 9mm and I was recommended an ar-9 possibly for looks and feel of an ar-15 but with a more beginner friendly ammo. I would like to build my own if possible and keep it around the 500-800 dollar range (without a sight) and have it be (unfortunately) California compliant because I would like to have fun with it at my local ranges. I have looked at websites like palmeto state armory because I have heard that they have great parts for the price. I am more looking for recommendations for great parts or builds for me to put together. I would also like to do the fixed magazine so I am able to add a foregrip and pistol grip as well. Anything helps thank you guys for your knowledge and helping someone who is new to the gun world out!

This is going to be my first post on the forum and please keep in mind I do not own any firearms at the moment and my knowledge about them and California law is limited so I am looking for some guidance on the issues!
I have been looking for my first firearm and I have always been a person who is interested in more odd and exotic type of things and that also includes firearms. I have looked at the Ar-15 and Ar-10 platforms and have just fallen in love with performance and looks of these firearms especially when they are converted in .300 blackout. I saw a couple youtube videos and found palmeto arms has very affordable .300 blackout ar-15 kits that you can build yourself but I am just very unfamilar with the laws around building ar-15's in California and I want to actually be able to go out to the range and have fun with my gun and not get slapped with felonies left and right. I have already decided that I want to build a fixed magazine (so I can have a normal pistol grip and stock) .300 blackout weapon with a short barrel and just have no idea how to go about any of it so if anyone here has any guidance I am all ears because I am truly lost. Or if there is any stores or ranges in socal can go to ask questions about building this firearm I am open to that as well.
Edit: I am aware that the main "cool" factor of .300 blackout is how quiet it is when running with a suppressor but I do not mind running it loud or paying more for the ammo. Again I am into odd and weird stuff so paying more for ammo isnt a factor for me.
Edit 2: After all thoughts gathered from gun enthusiasts Everyone has talked me out of .300 blackout and I am leaning towards 5.56, ,.223, and 9mm ( more leaning towards 9mm rifles for the availability of ammo and cheapness of the ammo as well) if anyone has any recommendations for 9mm rifles that look and feel like an ar-15 I would to hear them.

I'm looking for firearm education and training online and if possible in the Miami fl area.
I have virtually no hands on experience with firearms at this point.
Edit: sorry i forgot that this is social media (the place where common sense isn't common).
I'm well aware of the ability to look up random websites, videos, etc on Google about the topic. I'm asking in the firearms forum to get any available info from others that may have had similar experiences and can provide any info that they feel is vetted as not being a scam (uscca?), being particularly helpful or at least not flat out wrong (which is what a large portion of the jumbled soup that is a Google search often ends up being)
Amy info about the best places to start to save time wading through the nearly infinite available info, things you wish you would have known/ done differently would be appreciated. Thank you

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u/elonmusk Thank You ! Your Twitter support staff un-suspended my Twitter account in less than 24 hours. Long live Freedom of the Press ! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_the_press). Could my suspension have resulted from proxies of the defendants in the ( https://www.cohenmilstein.com/case-study/northwest-biotherapeutics-inc-securities-litigation )complaint asking Twitter to suspend @alphavestcap ? "Dear twitter support: I have notified Laura Posner at Cohen Milstein about my Twitter suspension . Please email me my Twitter posts that violated Twitter rules . My Twitter suspension may be related to the Cohen Millstein lawsuit against Citadel. Thank you . Joe Pratt @alphavestcap 610 517 xxxx. [email protected]" https://www.citadelsecurities.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/C129373_finaleprint.pdf https://www.cohenmilstein.com/professional/laura-h-posner https://www.cohenmilstein.com/case-study/northwest-biotherapeutics-inc-securities-litigation
$nwbo u/alphavestcap
Northwest Biotherapeutics, Inc. v. Canaccord Genuity LLC, et al. (S.D.N.Y.): Cohen Milstein is leading this securities litigation against market makers Canaccord Genuity LLC, Citadel Securities LLC, G1 Execution Services LLC, GTS Securities LLC, Instinet LLC, Lime Trading Corp., Susquehanna International Group LLP, and Virtu Americas LLC for repeated market manipulation tactics involving the spoofing of company stock. MORELESS
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My friend's employer raised false alarm on my friend possessing a firearm and threatening someone on an anonymous forum. Law enforcement officer searched her residence ( She doesn't own or possess anything ) and she was given a form EPO-002 restraining order and given a court hearing. She is on a immigrant visa and afraid this could impact her future based on this form, what are the implications of this on her immigration status, employment background check and if she should lawyer up to defend against allegations and sue the employer for false alarm?

My friend's employer raised false alarm on my friend possessing a firearm and threatening someone on an anonymous forum. Law enforcement officer searched her residence ( She doesn't own or possess anything ) and she was given a form EPO-002 restraining order and given a court hearing. She is on a immigrant visa and afraid this could impact her future based on this form, what are the implications of this on her immigration status, employment background check and if she should lawyer up to defend against allegations and sue the employer for false alarm?

dI made a bunch of posts here and in the forums about the Fortification update.
Today I once again had ample opportunity to use the system inside a larger squad. I just wanted to leave some pointers here.
For background this was on Cobalt. Me and my TR outfit Terran Republic Legacy scheduled a "Cleanup Crew" Squad for today around 7PM CEST so Prime Time. The idea I as lead had, was to get behind enemy lines and destroy as many bases as possible and cleaning enemy spawns. Also in services of other factions so they don't have to deal with ghost bases.
First we were fighting on the last half an hour or Amerish, where we did okayish, but nothing to amazing.
We had someone start up on Indar early and they built a base close to NC warpgate between the VS/NC frontline, west of havar physics lab.
Despite having a somewhat full squad with 3ish construction enthusiasts it took us like 5 minutes to be setup properly. during that time the rest did some early havoc by spawning ligthnings skyguarding NC warpgate or just killing smaller bases under construction. Of building the base a majority of the time was slotting modules into all the walls, turrets and terminals. Bottom Line: Allow for preinstallation of modules. Saw some wonderful ideas for UI implementation.
Anyway the real fun started after someone spawned a collossus + amor column on NC warpgate. At this point we had taken out 2-3 bases using lightnings, siege ants (please add stealing cortium from silos for the siege mandibles and yellow yacket) and cortium bombs. I gave the order to get a sortie for rushing the big tank and before I even had time to get my own tank, my squad of 12 people just smashed the entire column to pieces including the golden goose. And in the process saving active TR bastion from being harrassed.
Someone in NC didn't like us ruining their fun and so they started assaulting us. I am talking ground farmers, valks hovering above us (since this was their space and respawning inside easy), infils coming on falshes from nearby bases as well as flail bases hammering us. In short we had to juggle keeping modules up (horray firewall), swap between skyguards and tanks to deal with aiflail bases and all that in the heart of NC territory with no backup from TR (reasonable)
And let me tell you, the 45 minutes we stood our ground in our shack of walls having infantry rain and atillery shells all around us was amazing. Easily the most fun and excitement I had for months and profitable too, for all the repairs, cortium and various kills. 10/10 would do again.
Of course I cannot see how Fortifications really skews the balance in favor of the first successful base. We didn't bother with flails of our own, would we, no assualt base could have setup in the time we would have rained hell on them. Instead we relied on our 12 people manpower, infinite lightnings and an all encompassing fortress shield to become an island of pain against the odds. Sure a more coordinated attack might have succeeded actually in a short period of time, but on the other side we were and open squad with 60% randoms and honestly very "open" base design.
But this isn't how it ended, after letting VS just plow through NC as we kinda did disrupted the latter a bit in that direction, we kinda decided to relocate. So we deconstructed our entire base including the silo before the eyes of our enemies (power move 101) and made a mad dash across the continent with enemies in tow using our last pulls for an amor and support column. We immediately found ourselves north of berjess still surrounded by NC, but got to work with the last suviving ANT carefully being guarded by repair sunderers, skyguards and a few heavy tanks.
Within 10 minutes thanks to cortium drill, we had an ample supply of cortium, a router for berjess and xeno labs plus infinite tanks. I directed my squad to take berjes by just shelling their position (I dunnow whoever had built there didn't bother making more than some walls and a rebirth center on the western edge of the silo range) This is the other extreme, if a base isn't properly considering fortress shields and the like, they get rushed so easily by an amor column.
We had it within minutes during which I already had a router placed in the corner of Xeno Labs far away from any door behind massive cover, right next to the point and called TR leadership and my squad to rush the base and we easily took it. Shame construction is still so expensive, waited since the annoucement for them to lower some prices, but because now that I no longer put this expenditure off, I can actually contribute massively to capture regular bases, protecting and assaulting construction. But just spend my last 10k Certs for it and still lack big walls to cover the Silo and the various items like tunnel, infantry tower or pillbox. And we will probably don't see an uptick in routers being used due to all the hassel they involve.
Oh by the time we captured both bases, a good deal of amor was busy witteling our base down, never bothering to take out the router. A fair trade I would say.
Anyway while our contribution to the Alert Victory for TR was perhaps minimal with just 2 captures and a lot of time spent in NC heartlands, we would like to think that helping VS to become the biggest threat caused NC and TR to team up with TR being able to get ahead thanks to the amazing work of other squads, while we secured the NC flank by kepping pressure on their bases from behind their own lines.
Honestly from what I've seen during that alert, the best base is one behind enemy lines. Build a base on your side of the battlefield and you might secure a capture or protect a position, but in case of the latter you might just as easily overun. Once your Team pushes down a lane, your base becomes irrelevant and you need to relocate. Meanwhile behind enemy lines, you are much less expected (literally had a valkery under fire from my skyguard turn towards me as they tried to safe themselves and didn't realize they were shot in the back) and seen as waste of manpower to assault. And best case your team pushes past you, which can take a while and gives ample opportunity to help with routers and vehicle spawns. Worst case of course if the enemy pushes away from you, but then you can still assault them from an unexptected angle or be much quicker on backcaps and the like.
​
But this was just the first alers. After Indar closed, we rushed to Esamir. Where VS had pushed us all the way to jaeger's fist leaving us with a tiny strip on the south. My team rolled out in MBT, Sunderer's and 2 ANTs. We found my new favourtie base building spot on western Esamir and got to work. Our ANT protection paid off as the enemy was trying something in the area either claim the spot for themselves or just setup a defensive line against the rest of TR, but we caught their 2 vanguards and sunderer by suprise and wrecked shop. By the time they came back, we had unloaded the 2 ANTs, built a rebirth center and vehicle pad plus some walls and just kept them at bay with lightning spam. Proving once again my point that construction operates under a somewhat unfair first come, first serve principle. Anyway while my squad just mucked around the base, killing vehicles or putting up more walls, I got into contact with TR leadership and coordinated the use of my router spire. And let me tell you, my spot was ideal as it covered containment site, tapp waystation and south bank. During all 3 captures I had routers up for the entire duration allowing a friendly platoon to just go to town, while we did our thing. Got a lot of positive feedback for that.
Seriously if there should be one item, everyone should be given for free or at least highly encouraged to buy, it should be the Router Spire.
Anyway while we didn't want to get involved in 96+ slaughterfests, we used our ample vehicle supply to rush the traverse and secure it. Afterwards, I got back into contact with TR Command and we devised a plan. Stop pushing direct pressure onto NC, so that they would team up with us on VS and then steal their southern flank, while being distracted. I offered to relocate my base during that cool down period, so we would once again have some routers up to hasten our demise.
Another great reason to built behind enemy lines. Because unlike prepping a base by blowing up generators and the like, unless enemy air is flying reconissance, a base without CC or Skyshield can be safely setup and provide devestating results (see router).
And while due us indulging a bit into recording the base design for future reference and keepsake memory, we arrived a bit to late to provide routers ahead of our last minute NC betrayl, my squad did manage to setup a small base northwest of yimir ruins, to supply routers to both containment side and crashsite and also wreck the nearby NC fortress (remember cleanup crew) on ruins to prevent NC from responding properly. And the BL crashsite router stayed for the rest of the alert and was actively used in both the attack and subsequent defense by friendly platoons.
While I don't mind the hijinks this allows: Having mutliple functioning router pads across different hexes even when the original spire has been killed/replaced, is a bug that should probably be fixed for the health of the game.
At the end, we rounded the Alert off with a mad dash on tapp waystation, which we no longer could use our old base for, because I was the only one with all the core buildings and we had reloacted earlier. Securing it with one second to spare, tipping the control ever so slightly into TR's favor.
While I alreadly left some pointers, here are some new thoughts in no particular order gathered since my last post in this manner.

• The lack of construction outposts on other continents is a bit tragic. I also understand that changing the map to accomedate them would probably not well recieved and even I have a hard time even seeing space to add them without breaking the flow of the map. A possible solution might be to have some "unconnected" construction outpost in empty places of hexes, especially around large bases. They don't contribute territory control (thus not taking away existinig lattice balance), but provide guidance and ressources to create a base in prime locations to assault from or provide additional defenses. Think the towers around bases in Planetside 1, which can be hacked to provide a forward spawn. To take them over you need to have a stable link to the hex/be in control of the hex itself. (The whole point flip/asset handover might also help with the first come, first serve problem, since these particular bases can be taken over and thus not requiring trying to setup your own while in range of flails and orbitals)
• Construction Outpost can have terrible designs. All bases technically can have, but around Construction Outpost, especially Berjess, this can be felt quite pronounced. One lazy silo and you might not be able to wall up the bridges. One good citadel shield building and good luck trying to ever break through from the East. There are a few things, I would like to see here:
  • Have a minimum distance for all construction spawn options around the Control Point. No Elysium Tubes, Command Centers and especially Rebirth Center should be sitting within 50-100 meters of that thing, otherwise just completly enclosing it and making capture hell is way to easy.
  • Have a similiar very small no deploy area for sunderers, loadstars and the like around the control point. Not only to have defenders circumvent the above rule, but also to not have attackers basically make a point indefensible, as they use the skeleton of the base as cover for their own vehicles after smashing through one side.
  • Said no deploy area should also account for flails as with the first rule skyshields might no longer be available.
  • Silos should also have some no deploy areas around construction outpost, to prevent lazy/uninformed players from blocking valubale spots as they just put a silo next to the outpost heart. These no deploy zones shouldn't be massive circles. Just for example so that on Berjes a silo placed to the east always covers the bridge access points.
  • Berjess Overlook often turns into a clog around the walls on the eastern bridge. My suggestion would be to create some ledges for LA's around the perimeter that could be climbed from the bottom of the hill and could be positions to place routers which if blocked with walls on top would leave that flank more easily exposed to sideways fire. Another could be more usable, reliable and especially to new players communicated climb towards the nothern bridge, if only to make a pincer attack on berjess more likely.
• Air Defense is a pain. If you are better off just pulling a bunch of skyguards and leaving them around the base as turrets, instead of bothering with the actual AI turret, you know something is wrong. This mostly comes down to them not being Flak-Weapons, but also small "magazine size". Given they now need a human, they should be much more viable as a defense tool. Make them Flak-Cannons and give them a "magazin" comparable to a skyguard, at least half.
• Inconsistency in the NSO Haywire Ammo. Against base turrets, they apply havoc, against construction turrets they don't. I am not saying all buildings repairs should be disabled by the Linecutter (I mean could you imagine?), but at least have some of the debuff carry over to turrets would be a nice way for them to support an assault.
• In some corners of the map the NDZ or rather their combined blocked area is just excessive. Might do a write up about it later, where to fix what.
• Siege Ant not dealing damage to silos is maybe a bug, if not it should be better indicated and Siege ANT should be allowed to extract enemy Cortium.
• No idea why some buildings have their own cortium reserve, but I hope/would suggest that if a terminal is hacked and stuff pulled, it would drain this reserve and as long as it remains hacked, doesn't refill this reserve so a hacked terminal eventually runs out of juice even if the silo is still up. Might be a bit whacky for CC, but again no idea what other purpose these reserves fufill.
• Allow resupply tower to be fitted with terminal module. just because it fits the theme of the structure in my oppinion.
• increase the heat dissepate module runtime. between the pitifull ammount of shots, overall low fire rate and the fact that without a dedicated engineer, you bleed health under attack, it is just not worth it especially if places farther away from a module pull slot.
• i would love to repeat my point about deployed ants being allowed to serve as a silo replacement at least for walls, turrets and structures (though keeping all terminals and modules unpowered). Not only as a band aid to save a base after its silo went down, but also to allow for ramparts, etc being thrown up on a wide scale in the field. without clogging up the place with silos.
• skyshield module should be available for smaller buildings such as pillbox or bunker. As a tradeoff, add a limit of 2-3 skyshield modules per player into the game. Just because some cozy corners cannot accommedate them if only for the uneven terrain.

Note: this applies to public forums where you are primarily trying to convince an undecided audience, it does not necessarily apply to threads or private discussions where you are trying to convince someone who holds the opposite view. It also doesn’t apply in a public forum where you’d be violating the rules by using other terminology.
You cannot win a debate on your opponent’s terms.
If they’re “pro-choice” then we’re anti-choice, by definition. We need to understand how to frame the debate, and that means immediately taking away the label that says “I’m for freedom and my opponent isn’t”.
Do they support choice when it comes to:

• Sending your child to a religious school?
• Homeschooling?
• Purchasing a firearm?
• How you earn your money?
• How you spend your money?
• How you run your business?
• Whether or not your daughter can have a sex-segregated bathroom?
• Whether or not your daughter can have sex-segregated sports?
• Who can speak on a college campus?

(If they’re not coming from a typical left-wing pro-abortion stance, you have to alter the list, but very few people support all the choices anyone could make)
If not, then we shouldn’t be conceding that the other side ‘owns’ liberalism or liberty. They’re not pro-choice, they’re pro-abortion. If we repeat this often enough and refuse to use the language of “pro-choice” then we will make it much easier for anyone reading to support our side of the argument.
This extends to other ‘coded language’: reproductive rights, womens’ healthcare, the right to choose, bodily autonomy. No, we’re not against those things, we’re against abortion (the killing of unborn humans), and they support abortion.
The more that we simplify the message to “one group wants to kill children, and the other group doesn’t want to kill children”, the more we will win, and the more children will get to see the light of day.
Additional tip for fellow Christians: please don’t invoke the Bible unless you’re debating against other Christians. We have the science and the ethics, we can win the argument without invoking an authority which our opponents don’t accept.
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.